How much did we raise? And what should we spend it on?

After a week of caffeine hits, the mob raised $1176. That’s over 200o coffees, an impressive effort. It isn’t quite enough for solar panels so instead Cafe Lua is talking to the City of Melbourne about finding another environmental initiative they can spend it on.

They’re also giving us the opportunity to give them some suggestions on their Facebook page. If you have an idea let them know.

We like the idea from Brett ‘more dudes in carrot suits’ but you might be able to come up with something with a bit more environmental impact.

 

 

Buy a cup of coffee, get some solar power

All next week your daily caffeine fix can go towards solar panels for a local cafe.

Cafe Lua won the mob with over 50% of the 1200 plus online votes. To see the online pledge and the other businesses competing visit the City of Melbourne website. This Carrotmob is the first mob run in conjunction with the City of Melbourne

From compost to solar power
Café Lua, a small happening place of deliciousness, is very committed to reducing their environmental impact. They’ve undertaken a range of initiatives including switching to compostable and reusable coffee cups, installing efficient lighting and water faucets, offering used coffee grounds for compost and installing leavers on windows to encourage natural air flow.

Café Lua now wants to take their sustainability leadership to a whole new level in the Carlton business community by installing solar power.  50 cents from every cup of coffee sold from 25th to 29th June will be put towards solar panels.

Join us
To be part of the Carrotmob and support this initiative simply rock up and buy a coffee/ssss from Cafe Lua during the week of 25th – 29th June (on average they sell 1800 coffees a week! let’s smash it!). The week long event will culminate in a Carrotmob celebration on the Friday from 10am – 12pm!

If you’re planning to show up let us know on the Carrotmob website.

Vote now for Carlton carrotmob

Voting is now open for Carrotmob Carlton. Check out the videos on the Carlton Community website and cast your vote now! Voting closes on Monday 11th June so you don’t have much time to choose your favourite.

Next mob to descend on Carlton, don’t miss your chance to vote

Save the date of June 30, a diverse Carrotmob is due to hit the streets of Carlton.

This time around Carrotmob Melbourne has paired with the City of Melbourne’s Eco Carlton program.

The City of Melbourne is already working with five businesses to find out what positive environmental changes they can make to their business.

Businesses being assessed include:

• Cafe Lua
• King and Godfree
• CV’s cafe and bar
• La Mama Theatre
• Gewurzhaus

In the coming months we’ll be showcasing each business and their commitment to change.  Make sure you’re following our blog, Twitter or Facebook page so you can vote on who wins the mob.

What makes you spend your dollar?

Everyone has a friend who has to have the latest gadget or bag before everyone else. You may even be the person who loves to boast about how much of a bargain your latest pair of shoes or cup of coffee was. Everyone is motivated to shop for different reasons.

But the backlash against the latest or the cheapest is growing.  The latest is Cashmobs where a mob of consumers purchase full-price goods to support a business in need. It’s in direct response to Groupon where often the consumer deal comes at the expense of the small business.

Carrotmob is all about making consumption about more than just buying stuff. So this week we’re asking our mobsters, what would motivate you to change your shopping habits?

Got some questions on greening your business? Hear from the experts

Businesses can find out about programs and products to save money, water and power at next week’s Greening for Growth forum.

Hear from Current Consulting, Pure Organic Grocer and CitiPower Port Phillip Business Excellence Award winners’ Kosdown and Daisy Dry Cleaning about what they’ve done to make their business more sustainable.

You can also talk to:

• Energy Matters: experts in renewable energy options
• Ecovantage: showing easy energy saving  product installations
• Green Steps: on sustainability training programs
• Port Phillip ecoCentre: about local environmental programs
• Sustainability Victoria
• Victorian Employer’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Moreland Energy Foundation

Carrotmob (Helen and Ashlee) will also be there to talk about how you can get a mob of customers.

The event is held by The City of Port Phillip and Small Business Victoria.

Save time, save money and save the environment

Time: Monday 27 February, 5.30-7.30pm

Place: Port Melbourne Town hall auditorium, 333 Bay Street, Port Melbourne

Please RSVP for catering purposes (light refreshments provided) by emailing admin@portphillipbusiness.com.au or phoning 9209 6777.

Hot trends 2012 : Eco lazy

Savvy environmentalists have never had it easier. From washing less to shopping local (or not shopping at all), there are more opportunities than ever for consumers to display their green credentials while barely lifting a finger.

Check out some manifestations of the eco-lazy phenomenon:

The great unwashed

Melbourne Uni researcher Tulia Jack ran an experiment with a group of everyday people last year to prove we don’t need to wash our clothes as often as we do. The control group of 30 commited to not washing their jeans for three months.  Results have just been released showing half wanted to continue wearing and not washing the jeans, while nobody suffered any negative social impacts.

A recently produced calculator tells you whether you’re environmentally under or overweight when it comes to your clothing. It not only factors in purchases but also how often you wash and iron them.

 Slacktastic

Why go to the effort of scouring packed shopping malls for a new outfit when you can hang out at home? Buy nothing new October manages to make doing nothing an exercise in consciousness.

Shoptivism

Small Business Saturday was held in the US last August to boost the local economy and create jobs. Nearly 3 million people liked the Facebook page and 10,000 people committed to shopping small in 2012.

In a global economy where the exploitation of third-world labor is becoming the norm rather than the exception, the stories behind the shop are becoming more important than ever. Businesses like The Social Studio in Collingwood are gathering customers by training young refugees in fashion design and using eco-friendly materials.

Squatting Supermarkets in Italy created an art installation/activism where iphone apps displayed the eco-credentials of each product as well as sounds, images and voices creating a relationship with the producers. There are also plenty of apps you can download to make sure your purchases have a positive impact.

And of course there’s Carrotmob, influencing positive change by going to the shops and buying stuff as a group.

So forget about the compost bin, the solar panels and the donations to charity as we show you how to be eco-friendly the eco-lazy way this year.

Using pester power for good not evil this Christmas

Like every little girl in the ‘80s I really wanted a Cabbage Patch Kid as a child. I never got one – a cheap knockoff called a cauliflower kid was the closest I ever got.

My parents seemed immune to ‘pester power’ until we all got a bit older. A few years ago my sister decided we should have a completely fair trade Easter. To start with it was just the easter eggs the kids handed out that were fair trade. But eventually even my parents got on board (although I’m still waiting for the year when my mum doesn’t feel the need to mention how much more expensive it is).

Research from Victoria University that came out a couple of months ago suggests that my family’s experience is pretty average. In a survey of 400 Melbourne families Victoria University researcher Dr Torgeir Watne found parents accepted their children as experts in sustainability and would choose products such as organic food, chemical-free cleaning products and energy-saving light bulbs based on their opinion.

“When the family perceived the child to be knowledgeable, parents were happy to cede decision-making power on the subject to their children, in a similar way to how parents often take their children’s advice on technology,” Dr Watne said.

Carrotmob is taking a break over January for some lazy beach times but we have some plans cooking for a bigger and better new year.

In the meantime we’ll be purchasing plenty of local, fair trade, sustainably-made goodies for our loved ones. And if the research is anything to go by, we’ll be receiving some too.

Results from Fed Square mob

Despite around 50 people putting their pennies towards an enjoyable meal or drink, the il Pomodoro mob last month didn’t raise the cash needed for the veggie garden.

Il Pomodoro  still plan on further developing their herb garden and will continue to be as sustainable as possible.

The Fed Square mob was the first restaurant mob organised by Carrotmob Melbourne.  Staffing requirements for restaurants make it more difficult to plan than a corner store as the number of staff working, compared to customers, needs to be spot on to make sure there is a profit made. In this case the numbers weren’t right.

Carrotmob Melbourne has learnt a lot from the experience. We’ll also be running some polls in the new year to try and get a better idea of what works best for our mob and our businesses.

Thanks to the carrot mobbers who did attend – it was a great night with some fantastic local music from Matt and Kate. The publicity generated also helped to prove that being environmentally friendly is a factor in consumer purchasing decisions.

Brunswick West mob saves equivalent of one cars worth of pollution

Albion Budget Supermarket has doubled its pledge and converted all of its lights to  save the equivalent of one cars worth of pollution.

Over a hundred shoppers mobbed the Albion Budget Supermarket in Brunswick West last year. The mob doubled the store’s average Saturday sales in just four hours.  In return, the store’s owner, Medhat Ghaly, pledged 50% of sales revenue from the event to improving his business’s environmental sustainability.

While a hefty $700 was raised from the Carrotmob event Medhat decided to invest double the amount to convert all 39 of his lights to more efficient bulbs. “Adam’s Eco Electrics came and replaced half of the lights using the money raised from the Carrotmob. We then decided it would be great to finish the whole shop!” Medhat said.

The supermarket will save approximately 2.48 tonnes of CO2 emission pollution per year – that’s approximately one car off the road annually.

Moreland Energy Foundation’s Jason Cox, who has been working with Medhat, said he will also save money in just two years time, “Medhat’s decision is not only great from an environmental perspective but also from a dollar perspective. He will save around $700 per year on electricity costs leaving a return on investment of only two years from the initial light cost outlay. It is a great example of small business taking action and why energy efficiency makes sense.”

Apart from lighting, Medhat is now working with the Moreland Energy Foundation on improving the efficiency of his drinks fridges. The supermarket is taking part in a trial to establish the suitability for new technology that will reduce fridge energy use without turning the fridges off.

*If you were at last week’s mob in Fed Square, thanks for coming and we’ll post some numbers as soon as we have them.